"Date Picker and Date Handling Issues in Thunkable – Major Limitation

Questions about Thunkable Issues / Bugs
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Hi Thunkable Team and Community,

I’ve encountered a recurring and significant issue with Thunkable when it comes to handling dates, and it’s impacting multiple use cases in my app development. I’d like to share my experience and ask if this is a known limitation, if there are plans to address it, or if anyone has found a reliable workaround.

Here’s the pattern I’ve noticed:

  1. Timer Function: I tried using Thunkable’s timer functionality for a time-based feature, but it didn’t work as expected. The timer was unreliable when dealing with date and time calculations, making it unusable for my needs.
  2. Manually Building a Tracker: I attempted to build a custom tracker manually using blocks (e.g., calculating cycles based on dates). However, Thunkable’s lack of robust date manipulation tools made this extremely difficult and error-prone. I couldn’t reliably calculate or compare dates.
  3. API Integration: Most recently, I tried integrating an API from RapidAPI, which requires a date parameter in YYYY-MM-DD format. However:
  • The Date Picker component doesn’t provide a Date property in the blocks, nor does it have a “When Date Picker Date Changed” event to capture the selected date.
  • The Text Input component doesn’t have a “Type: Date” option, so I can’t activate a calendar interface for users to select a date.
  • As a result, I’m forced to rely on manual user input (e.g., typing 2025-04-01), which I want to avoid because it leads to user errors and complaints.

In all these cases, the core issue is Thunkable’s inability to handle dates effectively. Whether it’s a timer, a manual tracker, or an API integration, working with dates consistently causes problems. This makes it nearly impossible to build a user-friendly app that relies on date inputs or calculations.

Questions for the Thunkable Team and Community:

  • Is this a known limitation with Thunkable’s date handling?
  • Are there plans to improve the Date Picker (e.g., adding a Date property or event) or add a “Type: Date” option to Text Input in the near future?
  • Has anyone found a reliable workaround to select dates without manual user input? (I’ve tried dropdowns for day/month/year, but this isn’t user-friendly enough.)
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